Slow Hours [Susan]

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

Five in the morning. Renard didn’t mind being up and getting to work early when early meant seven or eight o’clock. Five was a completely different ordeal. The typical hour and a half long process of waking up, getting dressed for the day, and then eating breakfast was completely tossed out the window when he had to be in by five. This was too early, if there ever was such a thing. Any earlier than that, and he would have preferred to camp out at his desk overnight than to waste his time going home just to wake up a few hours later. Despite brandishing an enormously large cup of coffee, Renard knew that the only savoir for him today was his head hitting his pillow at the end of the work day. Miserable days like these were miserable no matter how hard he tried to make it be otherwise. Once something like this was set in motion, it would stay in motion. The muggles had a law about that, didn’t they? For all the things they royally screwed up throughout their insignificant lives, their reach when it came to science was impressive. Too bad it only lead them to wars and arms races. The only positive from it was a growth in their stock exchanges, which he took pleasure investing in when he had the time and money. Their idiocy made him money, and he found it difficult to argue with that.

The reason he had to be in this early was because the dumbass that was normally set for this hour had to go to Mungo’s to watch his child be born. Couldn’t the thing wait until after the guy’s shift? Inconveniencing the entire department for something so inconsequential was idiotic. To boot, it wasn’t his first child either; it was the fifth. He had already seen everything there probably was to see with childbirth. Doing his damn job and supporting that enormous family was what he should have been doing right now. Instead, Renard was forced to change his schedule around to accommodate, and he was going to rightfully be pissed off for the rest of the day.

Tossing his briefcase and jacket onto his chair and gingerly setting his coffee precariously on his desk between files, Renard whipped his arms out to his sides in order to stretch his back. His body was still half-asleep; it typically required somewhere close to seven hours of sleep, and today he only had about four. Satisfied with the cracking noise emitted by his back as he continued to rotate his arms and shoulders, Renard moved the briefcase to the desk and took a seat, making sure to move the previous day’s work into its own pile, and maintain enough space for whatever would come across his desk today. The entire department was empty, except for a sole janitor and the nightshift workers, who were currently huddled around a desk further back in the room. They wouldn’t disturb him. They knew the consequences to that. So did the interns in the department, who he had been told would be arriving slightly earlier than normal today since he was supposed to have one or two accompany him on any calls he received. Hopefully that meant none until more of his coworkers arrived and they could pull the children away from him. They were so annoying, always asking questions and never learning to shut-up.

[Deleted]

Susan had awoken that morning far earlier than she had expected; she had had a nightmare about the explosions of the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons delegations again. It was only the second time she’d had that nightmare, but the first time she hadn’t had to go to work the next day so she was able to make herself a cup of chamomile tea and slowly go back to sleep the day away. Today she had to be in the office by nine in the morning, so going back to sleep wasn’t exactly an option. She had been told she didn’t need to strictly adhere to a specific schedule, as long as she was getting what tasks had been set for her done in a timely manner. Knowing that sleep was no longer an option, Susan decided to get out of bed and head into the office early. The earlier she got in after all meant the earlier she could leave and enjoy the summer day outside. She peered out the window; dawn was just breaking over the horizon, sending hues of pink and gold over the dark night sky. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and Susan found herself just watching it for a few moments before heading into her closet to dress for the day. She decided to bring her robes with her and wore a pinstriped pink and white sundress and pale pink ballet flats. Her hair she kept down and curly; she could always tie it up if she needed to.

With her robes tucked safely into her back, Susan went back into her room and picked up a pinch of Floo Powder tucked in a puch next to her bedrooms fireplace, where a fire was merrily crackling. “Ministry of Magic!” she declared after flinging it into the fireplace after the flames turned an emerald green. She stepped in and was whirled away to the Ministry’s foyer. Susan managed to catch herself before she landed on her backside; she was finally getting used to the sensation. Straightening, Susan looked around and saw the place was mostly empty. She wasn’t exactly surprised given the early hour, but it was still a bit...eerie. She walked towards the lifts and jammed the button to her Departments floor, humming a piece from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. As she made her way over to her desk, humming still, she realized she was not alone and she coughed a little to stop herself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone else would be in this early,” she managed to get out, pouring herself a glass of water to help clear her throat. “Do you need any help?” she said once she felt her voice was clear enough to speak again.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

Renard never expected the peace and quiet to last forever, eventually it would have to be broken by the low drone of more workers entering the department. However, he hadn’t anticipated it to be interrupted this early, aside from the occasional cough or clearing of a throat from the night shift, who were starting to slowly accumulate their belongings to head home after they were done for the day. His eyes lazily flicked back and forth over them, trying to figure out if he knew who any of them were. Over the last few years, it had become apparent that those delegated to the night hours were the dull ones, or those the department didn’t care about if a werewolf or vampire ripped them to shreds. Filthy job, really. At most, he dealt with the aftermath of those cases, or the occasional troll that happened to wander into a muggle settlement.

The interruption came from someone that had just entered, humming what sounded to be classical – a sound he was familiar with because his parents always played orchestral tunes while he was growing up, apparently hoping that would make them seem more sophisticated around their peers. Even at a young age, Renard and his sister knew that was never going to happen. Mummy and daddy were far too low on the IQ scale to ever get to the point where they would seem intelligent. It was unfortunate that Hogwarts had been forced to nurture that. Time was most certainly taken away from students that were more deserving than his parents were. Regardless, Renard tried to ignore the humming until the person who was so effortlessly doing it appeared in his field of vision a few desks away from his own. Normally he would have ignored the girl, either opting to keep his conversation brief with her or brushing her off, not dealing with anyone until he was assigned to do so or if it pertained to work. But this was the Windsor girl, Susan. He remembered her. While they had been in Ravenclaw together, he was a few years older than she was. Now she was an intern here, which meant he had some sort of control over the work she had to do. And he did need interns later in the day…

“There really shouldn’t be,” he yawned, kicking his feet up onto his desk and leaning back into his chair. “But not all of us are lucky enough that we can blow off the head of the department when shifts need to be filled,” Renard shrugged, still sore that he even had to be here at this hour in the first place. She asked if he needed any help, and Renard reached across his desk and pulled a pile of papers towards him, making sure that they were the jobs for today that required intern help. “I might in an hour or two. How much time have you spent in the beast division so far? We aren’t allowed to be as soft as the guys that spend all day talking about centaur or goblin rights, you know.” That was one of the problems he had with this department; the interns were never told exactly what went down inside the divisions, aside from negotiations with different beast groups, all of which supposedly exhibited signs of intelligence. He failed to see what everyone else did though. His job required him to apprehend and hand out violations for those that broke them. Sometimes that required a heavier hand to be forced. Sometimes he didn’t mind that in the slightest.

[Deleted]

Susan simply inclined her head in silent agreement at Renards’ quip; though she hadn’t known the Goyle boy all too well at Hogwarts, they had been in the same house, and he did carry a bit of a….reputation. He was known to be quite intelligent, brilliant even, with the downfall that he KNEW this to be true. She could tell from the way he carried himself, feet up on his desk leaning backwards, that he had a very high opinion of himself. Still, Renard was her superior, so she kept her thoughts to herself. “Not yet, no,” she answered to his next question, a determined look coming over her face. “I’d like the opportunity to do more work for the division however, as I intend on joining the division after my internship,” she said confidently, letting her fingertips rest on the desk in front of her.

“I’m a registered Animagus; the more work I do with beasts the better in my opinion,” she added. It was not common knowledge that the eldest Windsor daughter was an Animagus, however she was on the registry, which Renard had easy access to and could verify. She also felt the need to impress Renard - though she realized this would be a very difficult task. “If you have something for me in a few hours, is there any way I can have an insight now? So I know what I’m up against?” Susan asked boldly after a moment's pause. Her father had always taught her to go after what she wanted, and what she wanted was the respect of a department member so she could move up in the ranks, and not be a lowly intern for very long. “Think of it this way - the sooner it gets in the hands of an intern, the sooner you don’t have to waste time tracking one of us down,” she added reasonably, still standing her ground in front of her desk.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

She nodded her head. How obedient. That’s exactly what he had expected out of a Windsor. While Susan here had been in Ravenclaw a few years below him, his personal favorite of the family was William, the eldest. Despite being a year younger and in a different house, Renard had always been fascinated with the way the Gryffindor had managed to come out of school and go straight into the abhorrent muggle political scene and think that he had the ability to make changes. The only good thing muggles brought to the table these days were their stock markets and ability to create capital out of seemingly thin air. Everything else was a freaking mess, and Renard preferred to test his luck only with money making schemes. The government he was suited for was the one that had made him come in early this morning. That would be changed one day. “Oh so you’re my future replacement then!” Renard spoke up. This job would only fit him for a few more years before he was either booted out for his views (which would then lead to his path towards legislation of his ideas) or got bored with cleaning up after were-mutts. “You’ll change that tune the more you work here,” he sniffed. “We deal with a lot of…how do I put this? Unsightly things and individuals.” Renard added a shrug as he pulled his feet off of his desk and spun his chair to face Susan. This thing they were going to do today would help determine what she was made of. Once he had become a full-time employee, his favorite game had been to test out the interns each year. Most disliked the way he handled the beasts they were supposed to deal with. If they didn’t want him to bring down a hammer of justice, they just had to not break the laws they were chained to. He didn’t go running around muggle London blasting randoms with spells, so why should they get a pat on the paw for wolfing out in a public park on a full moon?

“An animagus? What animal was the lucky winner?” The ability had always seemed like a useless one for his dealings, but the process was nothing to scoff at. Especially if the end result gave an animal that could actually be used for work reasons. As for the actual work that had to be done today, she had a point about getting the work assigned now, rather than later. Renard made sure to grab the papers dictating today’s tasks, and gave them a quick once over. They didn’t look incredibly difficult, and the two that he needed an intern for would cover different parts of the job easily. “So I can use you for two of them,” he stated, handing over the first one so that she could look at it as he explained it. “That is an order of removal for a ghoul that has found its way into an apartment building in Diagon Alley. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what a ghoul is, but they can be incredibly difficult to find in a building of that size,” he added, leaning forward to tap on the picture of the building that was on the sheet. “If we get that done in a timely fashion, the second task is to check up with the owner of Claustrum De Lupus and see if any of their guests got too rowdy during the last full moon.” Renard hated that one the most, having avoided it for close to a week now, but it had to be done eventually. “While we wait to get out of here, start brushing up on ghoul removal. I’ll submit the paperwork that you’re coming along once the supervisor gets in.”

[Deleted]

Susan did not deign to say anything as Renard casually mentioned her as his future replacement; she was ambitious but not to a fault. She didn’t want anyone to be fired just so she could have her job, and if that meant working her way up more slowly then so be it. “A horse, miniature horse,” she said, pulling out a magical photograph she had had Lysander take of her for proof when she had registered her status with the Ministry. It showed a peach colored horse with a dark mane, the same color of Susan’s hair, trotting around in a circle in a clearing just inside the Forbidden Forest. It had been the best place to not be spotted but still get light through the canopy of trees. “It’s an odd feeling, the first time,” she admitted, shrugging a little. “But I got used to it the more I transformed. It’s wonderfully freeing, especially at night galloping on the grounds of my grandmothers home.” She stopped speaking and just smiled a small smile. She highly doubted Renard cared about her nighttime wanderings with her horses on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Susan’s face remained perfectly calm as Renard explained he needed her for two tasks, the first being a ghoul removal for an apartment building. Internally however she shuddered; ghouls were rather foul creatures, and she would hate it if one ever made its’ way into her apartment. The other one was a hotel specifically designed for werewolves. Renard didn’t sound too enthusiastic about that one, but Susan was friends with her brothers’ ex-girlfriend Jamie, who also happened to be a werewolf, so she had no problems with them. “I’d be happy to assist in both tasks,” she said primly, taking a seat at her tiny cubicle and pulling out her copy of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ smiling slightly at the last name Scamander in gold letters on the cover. She flipped to the page containing ghouls and began to read, waiting for Renard to tell her it was time to go.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

Wonderful. She was going to bore him to death with the exhaustive details of her first time. Transforming into a miniature horse that is. Renard prevented himself from yawning in the middle of it, quickly getting to the point of not caring about anything she was saying. Once the animal she could become was described, he had lost all interest. Obviously an animagus form wasn’t something a person could inherently control, but getting an animal as ridiculous as a miniature horse? What was the point in that? Anywhere this child went in that form, she would stick out. Whilst her grandmother’s home and grounds worked, to an extent, Renard highly doubted the ability was much use anywhere else in her life. Now it was nothing more than a cheap party trick, and one that she could only share with her less inclined magical cohorts, the likes of which would get off to a muggle pulling a rabbit out of a hat. This was absolutely ridiculous. “Interesting,” he muttered, feeling like he had to say something since he had asked in the first place. “Guess it’s slightly more exotic than the typical house pet,” Renard offered, still trying to make it sound like he was partaking in the conversation. Hopefully this wouldn’t go on much longer.

“Perfect. I’ll call you once we’re signed off by the department head,” Renard exhaled as he watched the Windsor girl return to her desk and pull some sort of book out. Obedient to a fault. Just how an intern was supposed to be. In the meantime, he had to prepare the paperwork that needed to be signed. That would kill a good chunk of the time until his supervisor got in.

---

A Few Hours Later...

Everything had gone smoothly – his supervisor seemed excited that he was finally showing one of the interns the ropes. Renard thought there was a little too much exuberance in that, hoping they wouldn’t think this was going to become a regular occurrence. He couldn’t spend every day of the work week babysitting a child barely out of school. The last three years hadn’t been spent working diligently just to become a daycare for the newbies. As long as he made that clear when they returned today, he was sure it wouldn’t become a normal thing. But first, they needed to do the jobs. Currently, Renard was standing outside the apartment building where supposedly a ghoul was hiding. The owner had already come out and explained the situation, and he nodded his head as they asked questions, trying to direct the bulk of them at the Windsor girl. She was here to learn, so forcing her to deal with citizens was better to get out of the way now rather than later. They were one of the factors that would never disappear from this line of work. “So it sounds like it’s stuck in the crawl space between the fourth and fifth floors. Is that correct Susan?” Renard asked, staring up at the aforementioned floors, hand above his eyes to shield them from the burning glare of the sun. He hated when ghouls got into tiny places, because that meant they would have to find a way to flush them out. At least it was a crawl space and not a large sewage pipe. Those ones were the worst.

[Deleted]

Susan could tell about five seconds into her explanation of her Animagus form that Renard was growing bored with her. She had heard of his...reputation, but she was an optimist. Still, working in this Department, she would have thought being an Animagus would have interested him. She supposed he would have been more interested if she had transformed into an eagle, or a snow leopard. Something more useful than a miniature horse, from his standpoint. Personally, Susan was thrilled; she had planned on becoming an Animagus not to be used as a weapon but to combine her two passions - animals and Transfiguration. It had just ended up being a wonderful bonus that she could run around in her animal form with her favorite horses at the stables, and Lysander could still communicate with her in either form.

Susan had studied the book on how to get rid of a ghoul as they waited for upper management to show up at the office; it was rather straightforward, and Lysander's ancestor Newt Scamander had covered them extensively in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - she felt pretty well prepared. She felt her excitement building as their supervisor approved her going and they set off to the apartment building with the ghoul infestation. “Between the fourth and fifth floor sounds correct, but from what this man was saying, sometimes it could be heard from the third floor lavatory it might be using the crawl space between the apartments to move to where it seems fit,” she said, hoping she sounded professional. “Well, shall we get on then? Let’s not let this ghoul trouble you any further,” she said with a confident smile.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

Renard interlaced his hands behind his back as he waited patiently for Susan to finish with the last of the building owner’s questions and confirm that the ghoul was indeed in the location he had briefly mentioned moments earlier. He knew all of this already – there were pages in the report that detailed the parts of the building that the ghoul was terrorizing. Pages that conveniently disappeared from the file from when he first handled it to when he gave it to Susan to look over. She needed to know how to think on her feet, and so far everything seemed to be going well. Doubting a Ravenclaw was a stupid thing to do, but considering some of the ones he had graduated with, there really was no telling these days. Seeing her intellect in first person cleared up all of that though, not that he should have placed a Windsor on the same level as a normal witch or wizard in the first place.

Ah, yes. The bathroom on the third floor. That was actually a new detail he hadn’t heard about. A little digging by the building operator between the initial request for aide and now must have brought that to light. There was one problem though – neither of them were capable of making it into that crawl space without a little help. Now, if Susan had been a useful animagus, maybe she would be a mouse or rat, or some other small rodent-like creature that could easily be tossed up into the ventilation system in order to push the ghoul out. He was more than positive that there wouldn’t be enough room for a miniature horse up there, so that was out of the question and meant they were going to have to get a little more creative here.

“We shall,” Renard responded, her eagerness to head inside matched his need to get this job done and over with so that they could move on to the next thing and then be done for the day. “We’ll head to the fourth floor and see if we can get an idea of how to get in there. I’m assuming we won’t be able to, but who knows with these older buildings,” he shrugged as he pushed the front door open violently, managing to hold onto it just long enough so Susan wouldn’t be whacked by the recoil of it closing. Thankfully the stairs were right in the entrance area, and he skipped up them efficiently, only taking a few moments to reach the fourth floor. “The crawl space is supposedly in a storage room somewhere around here. Find that, and we’re halfway done with this dump of a building.”

[Deleted]

Susan knew this entire job was a set up by Renard; she honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t been completely forthcoming with the information supplied to them before arrival. It didn’t matter though, Susan enjoyed the challenge of thinking quickly on her feet. She wanted to chance to prove herself, not just as a Muggleborn witch, but as a competent asset to the department. She followed Renard up the stairs to the fourth floor and stopped in time when he abruptly came to a halt. “Right,” she said with a curt nod, already racking her brain with ideas of how to approach the ghoul and get rid of it before it had a chance to do even more damage. Of course, ghouls were not the most concerning magical pest, but they were still a nuisance either way.

She followed her superior up to the fourth floor, where he pointed out a crawl space. Internally, she grimaced. Merlin only knew the last time that space had been touched with a broom, or even a duster. She was fortunate that she was not allergic to dust, but really - did anyone actually like the stuff? She had a sinking feeling Renard would not be the one to enter the crawl space, so she squared her shoulders as she turned to face him. “I’m small enough to fit in there,” she said determinedly. She opened the door and stuck her head in, trying not to breathe too deeply and risk inhaling a noseful of dust and whatever else was hanging in the air. “Lumos,” she muttered, and the tip of her wand lit up the dim and dusty space. It seemed like any other storage space; long forgotten boxes and furniture were coated with a fine layer of dust, and several spiders seemed to have made their homes in between the crevices. Straining to hear, Susan was positive she heard a faint moaning and clanking - the ghoul. It was coming from far down the crawl space; great, she’d have to travel in.

“Well, wish me luck,” she said, putting on a brave face as she adjusted her pale pink silk scarf to cover her nose and mouth before stepping daintily into the crawl space. The air was mustier in here, even just a few steps in, and she was grateful that her scarf was at least blocking some of the bad air from her lungs. She crept slowly, stopping every time her footfalls made the floorboards creak, though from her readings on ghouls they didn’t particularly care if anyone else was around. After what felt like an eternity, she finally happened upon the creature and extinguished her wand before it noticed the light. “Stupefy” she whispered, and the red jet of light hit the ghoul squarely in the back. It slumped over and Susan worked to push it in the cage Renard had provided for her, trying not to gag at the smell. Once it was over and done with, she carefully made her way back out to the fourth floor, careful not to disrupt its induced coma. Finally pulling down her scarf to take a breath of sweet, fresh air, she grinned up at Renard. “Well, here it is,” she said, not really sure what else to say.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

Said storage room was an absolute fucking mess, a deep sigh escaping from Renard when he finally opened the door to it. At least the door to the crawl space was out in plain view, which he assumed wasn’t a normal thing considering all of the contents of the store room were shoved to the side and away from it. The building manager couldn’t have made it any clearer that this was their only way to capture the ghoul in person. The other methods Renard had come up with included flushing the ghoul out with a blast of wind, or by sending his patronus, a red fox, running down the air ducts in search of it. Ghouls never seemed fazed by his patronus, but it did get them to move away from the spot they were in, making it easier to pinpoint their location.

As for the location of today’s ghoul, Susan seemed to understand without him having to say anything, and she offered to go into the crawl space. He probably could have squeezed inside, though there was no telling if it would narrow off at points. With her stepping inside and lighting up the room on the other side, he could tell it was more of what was already surrounding him – boxes of trash covered in dust. “Remember, there’s another way for this thing to get out. From the looks of it, it doesn’t come over to this exit much,” Renard pointed out as Susan covered her face and entered into the crawl space. He thought about moving down to the third floor bathroom just in case it tried to escape through there, but decided to stay where he was. This was the girl’s job, and he needed to report back how she fared. Helping her too much would reflect poorly on her work.

After a while, Renard finally smelled it. That was the best way to locate a ghoul, assuming it wasn’t making a racket by moaning and groaning like they were known to do. Susan was on the other side of it, shoving the cage with the creature safely inside. That almost seemed like it was too easy for her. Excellent. That would make their second job for the day that much more entertaining. “Good work. Let’s let the building manager know, and then bring it back to the office for relocation.” He hated that word. Relocation made it sound like the creatures were treated well and placed into a cozy new home. That wasn’t true at all. But it didn’t matter now, because his part of the job was done. “Then we’ll go deal with those bloody werewolves,” he rolled his eyes, motioning for her to bring the cage along with her.

---

The ghoul was said and done with, but the werewolves were not. Filthy half-breeds, they were. But they had their own hotel to turn in, so that made them friendlier to society, or so the officials said. Renard didn’t buy any of that crap. Werewolves were werewolves, and the ones that wanted to act out (which tended to be all of them, in his experience) only dragged the few decent ones through the mud with them. They were all vicious animals at the end of the day. “Ever been here before?” Renard asked Susan, looking up at the sign above Claustrum De Lupus. The average witch or wizard had no business being here in the first place, nor would the staff inside take kindly to them. That was another problem with the werewolves here. “Some of them might be a little touchy still, with the moon only a few days ago, so be careful. Not all are like the good little boys and girls at school.”

[Deleted]

Susan could tell Renard wasn’t the type to sing out praises for a job well done, so she took the ‘good work’ in stride. He was well known for not being the social, even amicable type, but she knew he knew what he was doing. However, when she caught his second statement, the one about dealing with ‘those bloody werewolves’ she balked for a moment. She thought today was just about the ghoul removal, not going to handle werewolf issues. She wasn’t exactly afraid of them - Will had dated one, and she had been a lovely ball of sunshine! Susan was not naive enough however to think that all werewolves were like Jamie Greyback. Her father for one, was the foundation for many nightmares in the wizarding world, for both children and adults alike. Still, she made no outward objections, but for wrinkling her nose as the stench of the ghoul reached her nostrils. Merlin's beard that thing smelled like hot garbage!

Despite constantly reminding herself that this would be fine, Susan could feel the butterflies in her stomach as they walked towards Claustrum De Lupus. As if Renard was reading her mind, he commented that the werewolves here wouldn’t be like the wolves she had gone to school with. “No, I haven’t been here before,” she said, trying to keep calm. She wondered if werewolves could sense when a human’s pulse was racing like hers was now. “What business are we attending to here?” she asked, keeping her tone light and airy. Renard had failed to mention exactly what it was they were doing all the way out here, and the Ravenclaw in her was curious to find out.


renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

He had figured as much. Coming to the werewolf hotel was basically like going to the dog pound and picking out the scraggliest, emaciated thing you could find, and calling it a dog. Renard knew enough not to say that aloud in this part of town, since everyone they had passed was either looking a little wolfish or bundled up in so many layers of clothes that it was painfully obvious they were vampires. Whoever’s genius idea it was to put a monthly werewolf jail and blood bank right down the street had to be making a killing, both monetarily and literally. One escaped mutt and the bloodsuckers would have at least a gallon of blood to feed off of, assuming it wasn’t tainted first. Renard didn’t care about the intricacies of either species, but their most vital assets were located within shouting distance from each other, and he found that hilarious.

“Welcome then,” he said as he walked up to the door, stopping short of opening it as he looked back at Susan over his shoulder. “Just making sure none of our furry friends got too freaky a few nights ago, that’s all. If a few did, well, then we might have to take action later.” That was the deal. They went to the hotel to keep the people safe. Breaking out or failing to go and then killing or biting someone, was a crime just like any other. Not even the Ministry could overlook that one. Pushing the door open, Renard stepped in and squinted, eyes adjusting to the dim light inside. He hated out dark these places were. Apparently when werewolves woke up the next day, they had hangover effects that would last for a few days. He wasn’t sure if that was because they exhausted themselves with murderous intent or that Wolfsbane was a powerful enough knockout potion to make them feel like that. Maybe it was a bit of both.

Waltzing up to the front counter, Renard smiled at the little old lady there. She hated him, and he hated her in return. Her sense of humor sucked, and she always looked like she was smelling something awful, her nose turned upwards permanently. If he had to guess, it was the smell of wet dog that loomed over the establishment. “Afternoon Doris. How were the pups this month? Any midnight strolls I should be aware of? You know I like it when they’re nice and sleepy.”

[Deleted]

Susan nodded, not saying anything as they walked into the hotel. If she was honest, the hotel was far less of any hotel she had ever been in, and felt more like a prison. Of course, being royal Susan had stayed in some pretty exclusive hotels, including one in Abu Dhabi that had a rooftop infinity pool forty stories up in the air. That was about the level of exhilaration Susan could handle. She was pretty sure one of her brothers had tried bungee jumping on that trip, but Susan was very happy to not have anything to do with that whatsoever. She didn’t want to think of the hotels she had stayed at in that moment however, because it was pretty clear that whoever stayed here couldn’t afford anything like she was used to. Her heart broke a little as she saw the set of overstuffed armchairs in one corner, the ends chewed so much that their former shape had been lost entirely, the cushions ripped apart so that the stuffing showed clearly from within. Susan let out a slow exhale, not realizing she had been holding her breath this whole time.

She followed Renard as he began to talk to the woman at the front desk. She could plainly tell that the two didn’t like each other, as was evident from her wizened face. She bore a great resemblance to a character in a Pixar movie she had loved as a child, and she tried to hide the smile that wanted to show on her face with her mouth. When she had regained her dignity, she lowered her hand and gave a polite smile and nod of her head towards the woman. “A pleasure to meet you, Doris,” she said with a courteous but professional tone, just like she remembered her father had done when he had gone to his charity events. She could still remember his face so clearly, and instinctively her hand went to the locket on her throat, where her fathers’ photograph in black and white lay inside. “We just want to ensure everyones’ safety, and that they’re being safe in return,” she piped up, bouncing on her toes once as her glance shifted from Doris to Renard. She had a feeling Renard was used to doing all the talking, but she didn’t want to come off as a mute to this woman, whoever she may really be.

renard walt goyle

[renard walt goyle]

@susanvictoria

It was always fun babysitting the interns. The way they experienced new things; the long periods of staring at an object or creature they had never seen before, the facial reactions that accompanied a dingy apartment barely large enough for a half-giant to sit down comfortably, and often times the smells. Renard was numb to most of it now, the occasional ghoul stench taking first place in the foul smell championship. It was a stupid game he played to make light of the less pleasant cases he dealt with, a binder in the bottom drawer of his desk outlining the details for worst of the worst. In terms of the werewolf hotel, those were far worse. The only thing this building had going for it was that it looked like a large kennel and smelled like one too. Even Doris, who looked like she was permanently glued to her chair at the front desk, was part of the ambiance. It was quite amazing.

“Nicely put Susan,” Renard said, giving her a thumbs up. Doris was an absolute curmudgeon of a lady, batty even on her good days and a witch with a b on the rest of them. Susan was going to unfortunately find out that niceties didn’t work all the time with her. “Same as I always tell you lot when you come barging in,” Doris croaked out from behind her half-raised newspaper. Renard always wondered what the point of having the hotel open during the rest of the month was, and it was clearly to let Doris pick people apart.

“Better not be forgetting anything Doris. I know it gets tougher as the years go on,” Renard shrugged, pulling out a form that he needed the lady to sign. “Anyways, you know the drill. Signing this indicates that you haven’t withheld any information from the Ministry, and that should evidence of an unreported crime during the past moon arise, Claustrum De Lupus is found fully liable and culpable of any wrongdoing or damages that may have occurred.” Doris scribbled her signature and the date and shoved the paper back across the counter to Renard. “Thanks Doris. See you next month.”

Renard motioned for Susan to follow him as he quickly made his exit from the hotel and back out into the alleyway. It was always too stuffy in there for his liking. “So, any questions about what just happened?” he asked the intern as he folded the signed form up and placed it back into his jacket pocket.